Ragequit! Game design principles for better online communities.

Cultures of abuse, harassment and intolerance are endemic in the competitive video game scene. This talk will discuss the types of trolling regularly found in competitive play, why it's a bad thing, what drives this behaviour, and what steps game designers can take to minimise it for online matchmaking.

First we'll look at it from a game-mechanic perspective - that is, how to identify characteristics of games that can foster a toxic culture, but where changing them would also negatively impact the gameplay.

After, we'll approach from a ui/ux perspective, giving some examples of recent titles that have built good communities by encouraging positive communication, as well as some that have embraced trolling to make winding up your opponent a mechanic in its own right.